Hitting the target

posted 10 days ago

My target for 2018 was to talk 10,000 steps every day. The end of the year is fast approaching and I haven’t missed a day yet. If I had missed one day, I know I would have missed the next. Targets are just as important to motivate your team so they can judge for themselves how they are doing.

Setting a SMART Target

It’s no good setting a target if it cannot be met. If my target had been to walk 10 miles every day, I would have not lasted a week. Likewise, if I had said that I should simply walk more, that wouldn’t mean very much and would soon be forgotten. Every target you set needs to be:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Timebound

A target of “increasing sales” means very little. One additional £ is an increase in sales. Instead, be specific: sales to X customers, to be increased by Y%, within Z months.

Agreeing targets

If you want your staff to achieve a target, you need to get their buy in. They need to understand why it is important and want to achieve it too. What support do they need from you?

You may need to break it down into manageable chunks. My one year target seemed a long way off at first. I broke it down into the first month, the first quarter etc. This gave me little milestones of achievement along the way.

If your targets are not going to be met, think why. What has gone wrong? Do you need to set a new achievable target? Your team will be demotivated if they think that, no matter how much effort they put in, they are not going to achieve what you expect of them.

Think about how you will recognise that targets have been met. That could mean commission. That could mean a thank you meal. Whatever it is, you need to show it’s all been worth it.

With my end goal in sight, I’m thinking how to reward myself. After all this walking, it could be with a new pair of trainers!